Van Hollen, Warner, Kaine Join Elfreth in Introducing Legislation to Protect Probationary Federal Employees Impacted By DOGE

U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) have joined U.S. Representative Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.) to introduce the bipartisan, bicameral Protect Our Probationary Employees Act – legislation aimed at protecting recently fired federal workers. The bill ensures that if and when employees are reinstated, they will not need to restart their probationary period for the same job they previously held and can continue to do the important work of the American people.

“The Trump-Musk illegal purge of federal employees has unfairly harmed thousands of dedicated civil servants and their families, while threatening the critical services they provide day in and day out to the American people. There is clearly no method to this madness – swept up in this chaos were longtime career employees who were recently promoted, along with others who had received glowing performance reviews for their good work. We will continue fighting to reverse these reprehensible actions in the courts – and as those efforts allow employees to return to their jobs, this legislation guarantees that these employees don’t have to restart the clock,” said Senator Van Hollen.

“As the daughter of two civil servants, I understand the vital work that public servants do on behalf of the American people. In the past month, we have seen an unprecedented attack on our federal workforce through the indiscriminate firings of probationary employees. Probationary employees are early and mid-career individuals, as well as those recently promoted after years of service, who are the next generation of leaders in the civil service. These workers were not given two weeks notice. They were not given severance. They were shut off from their work—and from their livelihoods—when they had mortgages, children, and parents to take care of. These are patriots who serve our country, but instead of being thanked for their service, they were tossed to the curb and told not to let the door hit them on the way out,” said Congresswoman Elfreth. “We must protect and expand pipelines to government service and recognize their contributions and expertise. As employees are being reinstated at agencies and departments across the federal government, the Protect Our Probationary Employees Act will ensure that the clock will not restart on these employees’ probationary period”

“Over the past 50 days, more than 20,000 non-political civil servants have been ruthlessly booted from their jobs without cause. Unsurprisingly, a number of these individuals are now being reinstated, either through legal proceedings or because the Trump-Musk administration has realized that these jobs were necessary, and these employees not easily replaced,” said Senator Warner. “This important legislation would ensure that those dedicated civil servants are able to pick back up where they left off and finish out their probationary periods without penalty.”

“Imagine you’re a probationary employee—meaning you were new to your job—who was illegally fired by President Trump. Either because of a court battle or because Trump was sufficiently embarrassed that he fired you, you get your job back—but now you’re told you’re back on probationary status?” said Senator Kaine. “Give me a break. I’m glad to join with my colleagues in introducing this legislation to make sure those rehired are not forced to start at square one again with fewer protections, and will keep doing all that I can to fight for the dedicated public servants who have been caught up in Trump’s dangerous war on the federal workforce.”

Under current federal law, there is no uniform provision in statute that guarantees if a probationary federal employee is separated from service during this period, that if and when they are reinstated, they will not have to restart their probationary period. As progress is made in the courts to reinstate federal workers, this legislation would clarify these guidelines and regulations for our federal workers.

This legislation is endorsed by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).

In addition to Senate cosponsors Warner and Kaine, the legislation is cosponsored in the House by Representatives Alma Adams (D-N.C.-12), Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.-44), Michael Baumgartner (R-Wash.-05), Don Beyer (D-Va.-08), Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.-01), Janelle Bynum (D-Ore.-05), Kathy Castor (D-Fla.-14), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.-05), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.-09), Sharice Davids (D-Kan.-03), Dwight Evans (D-Pa.-03), Cleo Fields (D-La.-06), Valarie Foushee (D-N.C.-04), John Garamendi (D-Calif.-08), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.-06), Steny Hoyer (D-Md.-05), Jeffery Hurd (R-Colo.-03), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.-04), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.-51), Timothy Kennedy (D-N.Y.-26), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio-01), George Latimer (D-N.Y.-16), Summer Lee (D-Pa.-12), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.-04), Elenor Norton (D-D.C.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.-14), Johnny Olszewski (D-Md.-02), Scott Peters (D-Calif.-50), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.-02), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.-03), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.-08), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.-06), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.-10), Darren Soto (D-Fla.-09), Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.-10), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.-13), Dina Titus (D-Nev.-01), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.-12), and Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.-07).

Bill text is available here, and video of the Senator’s remarks announcing the bill are available here.